The exhibition, Ethnic Minorities in Georgia, consists of photographic works by Natela Grigalashvili. From 26 September it is displayed at the Danish Library in Flensburg. ECMI’s Tamari Bulia opens the exhibition with a lecture at 5.30 pm.

Ethnic Minorities in Georgia was originally launched as an exhibition in March 2010. Together with the accompanying booklet it was prepared by the Committee for Human Rights and Civil Integration of the Parliament of Georgia and the European Centre for Minority Issues Caucasus.

ECMI’s Tamari Bulia – a Georgian herself – will present and open the exhibition with a lecture, Georgia – Small Country with a Wide Range of Cultural and Ethnic Diversity. The presentation takes place within a series of Thursday lectures of the Danish Library in Norderstrasse 59 in Flensburg.

By bringing the exhibition to Flensburg, ECMI hopes to give visitors a glimpse of Georgia’s astonishing diversity.

Natela Grigalashvili catching Georgia’s diversity

Natela Grigalashvili was born in Khashuri, Georgia in 1965. Her biography is rich and varied, with many activities, awards, exhibitions, and a wide range of work experience. She is mostly known as a photographer and decorator.

In Ethnic Minorities in Georgia Grigalashvili visualises Georgia as a multi-cultural state that is enriched with a wealth of diverse population groups.

Some sixteen per cent of Georgia’s population is made up by persons belonging to ethnic minorities, and the country is home to over twenty sizeable ethnic communities. The exhibited photos cover a range of them, including Azeris, Armenians, Eastern Slavs, Yezidi-Kurds, Assyrians, Ossetians, Kists, Avars, Udins, Jews and Roma.

In Grigalashvili’s lense, the expressive subjects of her works are very much alive and present and while different and sometimes even exotic, they are at the same time very human and even familiar.

The exhibition, Ethnic Minorities in Georgia, is one of many projects supported by European Centre for Minority Issues Caucasus as part of Denmark’sCaucasus Programme implemented in Georgia in partnership with the Council of Europe.